


Wonder Girl: Amazon Origin

by Saberlord_Oboeshoes



Category: DC Elseworlds, Wonder Girl (Comics), Wonder Woman (Comics), Wonder Woman - All Media Types
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-27
Updated: 2018-10-27
Packaged: 2019-08-08 14:42:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,252
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16431395
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Saberlord_Oboeshoes/pseuds/Saberlord_Oboeshoes
Summary: Donna Troy recollects how she met Wonder Woman and decided to follow in her footsteps as an Amazon.





	Wonder Girl: Amazon Origin

Donna Troy woke up from a nightmare, giving a whispered gasp as her eyelids flung open.  
  
She quickly glanced to the left to see Roy Harper still sleeping, still as naked as she was.  As her breath calmed down, Donna pushed aside the covers and sat up on the edge of the bed, looking up at the half-moon shining through their new apartment window.  She heard a rustling behind her, followed by Roy knee-walking on the bed behind her.  Her husband placed one hand on her right shoulder, and the other on her left arm.  
  
“Did you have a bad dream?”  
  
“It’s nothing, Roy.”  
  
“Donna, we’re officially partners now.  There can’t be any ‘nothing’ between us.”  
  
Donna sighed and put her right hand over Roy’s left.  “Just remembering the scariest day of my life.  The day I learned who, and what, my mother is.  And what I am.”

///////////////////////

I was born to a single mother, who was a blonde-haired, blue-eyed American photographer.  Together, we traveled across the Third World, chronicling the lives of people in developing nations, trying to bring the sufferings of oppressed people into common knowledge worldwide.  Many times, however, she had to go someplace too dangerous for me, and I had to be left alone with a family that my mother had quickly established a strong friendship with.

I lived there until I was nine years old.  Mother and I were in Khandaq, in a village inhabited by the Egyptian-descended ethnic minority known as the Yazkuds.  School was divided by gender, and I got along well with the other girls.  The one thing we all had in common was we all loved Wonder Woman.  Since our culture refused to allow women to anything besides their hands and face in public (though, to be fair, men were forbidden for shaving their beards), having a strong barely-clothed woman fighting evil and liberating the oppressed was the ultimate role model.  She was my hero, and I even had a great deal of merchandise of her.  Many girls would say that I looked just like her, and I loved that compliment.

But Khandaq was a very religious country, and fundamentalism was becoming more popular every year.  The newly elected ruler, General Asin Muhannad, had all governmental powers given solely to him, and promised to carry out "the will of Kobra" once Khandaq had been "purified".

Three months after taking absolute power, his brutal cleansing campaign began.  My village came under attack my Khandaqi soldiers, who announced their presence by firing canisters of poison gas.

Whatever this gas was, if it didn’t kill you, it made you into a shrieking lunatic, attacking everyone you came across or sometimes nobody at all.  As the villages tore themselves apart, the village militia rushed myself and the other children into a safehouse.  But that was attacked by the chemical too, and as the soldiers covered up the mouths of the children, the enemy army broke in.

In the chaos, the soldiers who could still fight put themselves in front of the civilians, and while the father of the family I was with pushed me behind him, the entire building burst into flames.  There were gunshots, screaming, blood, and death, until only my father and I were left.

With the little courage and strength he had, my father picked me up and began running away, only to be shot in the back.  He fell into the fire, and it surrounded me.  I rushed to a patch of open ground to roll the fire out, but once it was, a soldier grabbed me and dragged me away screaming.  He held my back tightly against my chest, keeping my right arm in place while another soldier stretched out my right arm.

The second soldier pulled out a device that looked like a hole puncher, put my left pinky into it, and pressed it down.  That device was a torture machine meant to tear off fingernails, and I screamed in response.

“Are you scared, little girl?” he mocked.  “Do you want your mommy?  Go on, start crying for your mommy!”

I had no idea what was going on, but I hated it.  I felt so helpless and frightened, and the fear had completely petrified me.

I started crying for mommy.  Gently, at first, then louder as he tore the rest of my fingernails off.  Then a third soldier walked up to me and rammed my stomach with the butt of his gun, and then began clubbing me in the face, bloodying up my mouth.  He also held up my Wonder Woman lunch box in front of me. 

“You still scared, little bitch?” he snarked.  “Why don’t you call out for your she-devil to come help!”

I was still crying, but trying to hold it in.  As he pressed his foot into my back, I softly stared at the propped-up image of my hero and softly begged for her to save me.

Then there was a loud thunderclap outside, and I could hear men outside the room rushing around in a frenzied panic.  There was a barrage of gunfire, and just underneath it I could hear the striking of metal, as though the bullets were bouncing off something.  Then there was a bust of thunder, and I saw a bright flash of blue light as men started to scream in agony.  These screams soon drowned out the gunfire, and I also heard what sounded like those soldiers being sliced apart as they called on their god for help.

The soldier holding me told the other two to go investigate.    Hesitantly, they loaded their automatic rifles and rushed outside.  I heard one dying screaming in thunder as blue lightning lit up the outside wall, and the second was struck dead by a lightning bolt that shot straight through the doorway.

The thunder from all this lightning had made me and my captors lose hearing, and by now I was getting a dizzy feeling in my head.  The soldier holding me dropped me and started running, only for the wall to burst open from behind.

Before he could turn around, a human figure sped through the falling rubble, stabbed him in the chest and made his body violently wriggle with electricity sprouting out all around.  Then the mystery figure grabbed his face with her free hand and slowly started pulling his head away from his shoulders, giving a disparaging shriek as she ripped his head off his body.  His corpse still being electrocuted, she lowered her hands and dropped both the head and body to the ground.  Then the lightning in her sword turned off.

She started to catch her breath, and they were breaths of pure anger.  She slowly turned to face me and saw that it was none other than my hero, Wonder Woman, covered in the blood of her enemies, and staring at me with the eyes of a psychotic monstrosity.

The tiniest moment after she saw me, she dropped her sword and quietly lunged at me.  I was so scared I knew I had to run, but my body was completely frozen.  I closed my eyes tight, expecting to be the next victim.  But instead, she took hold of me, one arm crossed over the other, pressed me against her chest, hugged me tight, and burst into tears.

“I’m sorry!  I’m so sorry!”

I knew that voice.  I couldn’t believe it.  And right then, I didn’t even want to.  But I opened my eyes and exclaimed the truth in pure shock.

“Mom?”

And that’s how I learned the truth about my mother.  She is a killer.  She is a monster.  She is a hero.

Realizing this, I hugged her back and cried with her.

//////////////////////////////////////////

The data leak was done by Private First Class Abner Smith, grandson of wealthy computer mogul who bribed the Army to accept him.  When a group of soldiers came to his office at a military camp in Egypt near the Khandaqi border, he was finishing up decorating his social media profiles with all the hottest emojis. 

“Private Smith, you have edited videos to make insurgents look like civilians, and released documents detailing the names and home villages of individuals opposed to the new regime.  Why?” one of them asked. 

“I did it for the information and its right to be free, and to avenge all the misunderstood souls that our government has labeled as ‘terrorists’,” Bradford answered proudly.  “And I did it for all the poor children you fascists have murdered.” 

The arresting soldiers all stood to one side, giving Smith a clear view of Marine Captain Steve Trevor standing in the doorway, staring at him with eyes of pure hatred.  Bradford didn’t flinch as Trevor slowly walked towards him. 

“So, you think you’re a hero, do you?” 

Before Private Smith could respond, Trevor grabbed him by the shoulder and slammed him onto his work table, smashing it and the desktop he had done his treachery on. 

“When have you ever had to look death in the face?” 

Trevor picked the traitor up, and slammed him into the wall, and punched him square in the face. 

“How many people died so that your pampered snowflake ass could feel good about itself?” 

Trevor punched him two more times, causing Bradford to bleed profusely from the nose and mouth. 

“Why are you being so mean?” he cried. 

“I’m the one being mean?  In the name of ‘peace’, you have caused the deaths of 3000 men, women, and children.” 

“Well, they had it coming!  They deserved it!” 

Trevor spent the next five minutes thrashing Smith around the room, beating him and snapping his bones until he was a crying, bloody wretch on the ground. 

“You can’t do this!  You have to arrest me and take me to trial!” 

“Trials are to determine if one is guilty or innocent.  You have already confessed, which makes you guilty, and so a trial is unnecessary.  And besides, by giving intel over to the Khandaqis, you have joined them, and I’ll honor your decision by treating you as such.” 

“Please, have mercy!” the coward begged.  “You’re Christian, right?  You sound all redneck, so you must be Christian!  Why don’t you forgive like Jesus does?” 

“I don’t believe in Jesus.  I worship the Holy Trinity of Guns, Beer, and Angels.  And you made my angels cry.” 

With one final punch, Abner Smith was dead.  Trevor stood back up and was saluted by his men, then turned to face a sound of clapping from outside.  It was an Egyptian army general and the country’s national sorcerer – a popular man who commonly went by the nickname of Black Adam. 

“Very good, Captain Trevor!  You would make a fine ruler!” 

“Well, coming from this part of the world, I won’t take that as a compliment.” 

//////////////////////////////////////

The next day, footage of the gas attacks were released worldwide, and Egypt responded with an invasion backed by Israel and the US.  In retaliation, Muhunnad launched a nuclear missile at Cairo, which was intercepted by Superman.  After witnessing the bomb explode in space, he flew straight down to Khandaq and apprehended Muhunnad, discovering that he was the immortal Vandal Savage.  After a trial at the UN, he was sent to Belle Reeve, where the only available cell was with Killer Frost.  As long as she lives, she’ll have fun making him wish he could die.

The poison gas was developed by an American biochemist, Dr. Jonathan Crane, improving on the work done by Dr. Poison.  He fled the country and relocated to Gotham City, which he terrorized for eight years as The Scarecrow.  It was only then that his involvement in the genocide was discovered, and he was sentenced to the same fate as Savage.  He only lasted one day.

The US tried to turn Khandaq into a democracy, but that endeavor quickly failed, and Black Adam was set up as the nation’s new dictator.  Not genocidal, but still draconian, and since the US sends him aid that makes him a “good guy”.

////////////////////////////////////////////

Wonder Woman was at her daughter’s side for days, but only left when a face she hadn’t seen in decades entered the room.  She rushed to precious Steve and embraced in in a passionate kiss, before crying all over his shoulder.

“You’ve been gone forever, Steve!”

“Medusa’s stone curse did take a while to wear off.  Thirty years sure seems like yesterday.  Now, are you going to introduce me to our daughter?”

Diana led her love back to her daughter’s bedside.

“Her name is Donna.  Donna Troy.  She’s strong and brave and loves taking pictures.”

“She’s also an angel, just like her mother.”

“Thanks, dear.”

“So, I'm really the daddy?”

“Yes, dear.  The DNA test shows it.  But I know you'd love her regardless.  He for sure was part of a team that I led against extreme insurgents, a man team and a woman team.  Before the battle, they all complained about me showing off too much skin.  After the battle, they all apologized.  We then started talking about his perceived stereotypes of western women, and I spent the rest of the night proving all of them right.  Nine months later, we all met again, and only one was willing to help me raise her.”

“And have you loved anyone else?”

“With my heart, no.  With my body, well, let's just say it's taken a lot of men to replace you.”

"Just men?"

Diana confessed to her husband with childish glee.  "Once, while carrying Donna, I led a team against extreme insurgents, a man team and a woman team.  Before the battle, they all complained about me showing off too much skin.  After the battle, they all apologized.  We then started talking about his perceived stereotypes of western women, and I spent the rest of the night proving all of them right."

Steve smiled.  “You haven’t changed a bit.”

Diana turned and asked him earnestly, “Are you angry, dear?”

“Not at all.  I’m glad someone else could make you happy when I couldn’t.”

“Thanks!”  Diana hugged her true love as they continued watching their daughter.

“So, what are you going to do now?” asked Steve.

“Learn from my mistakes”.

/////////////////////////////////////////////////

After we had both recovered, mother took me by the hand and walked with me out of the military hospital.  She led me to the middle of an empty hanger reached for a latch in the air, opening the door to her Invisible Jet.  We got on and she made sure that I was safely secure in the co-pilot's seat directly behind hers.

I didn’t look at my mother in the eyes during this time, and she didn’t try to either.  My mind was still trying to comprehend everything that had happened.  My friends killed, the gas, the bombs, the bullets, my father falling, the fire eating me, the horrible men … and my mother is Wonder Woman.  And she is not the big smiling hero on my lunchbox.

After the plane took off, mother put on autopilot and moved to back to my seat.

“How are you feeling?”

“OK.”

“Here, you need to watch this.  It’s about our history.”

She lowered a screen and we watched a video I had seen before, but so long ago I had forgotten it.  It was a documentary on the history of the Amazons.

“According to myth, Sparta sought to conquer Athens, and their god Ares granted their soldiers great strength and power to do so.  In retaliation, the goddess Athena granted her followers similar traits, but only to those who possessed the true will of a warrior – the ones who sought not the destruction of their enemies but the protection of what they loved, even if that meant more destruction.  All of the Athenians who were worthy happened to be women – young widows grieving for their husbands killed on the battlefield.

“Thus, Athena transformed them into Amazons, and they quickly gave the Spartans a humiliating defeat.  But the men of Athens showed no gratitude.  Even though they worshipped a goddess, they refused to believe any woman was worthy of such power.  Infuriated by this, Athena led the Amazons and their daughters to the island of Themyscera, damning Athens to Spartan rule.

“But Ares found the Amazons and sought vengeance for defeating his followers.  He and Athena engaged in battle over Themyscera, and Athena had the upper hand until Ares' minions blinded her.  Their father Zeus, who was watching, was enraged by barbaric act, and condemned Ares to the center of the Earth.”

“Soon after, with Sparta ruling Greece, the gods wanted nothing to do them, so they left our world, but not before putting the Amazons in a curse to vanish, but reappear should Ares be released.”

“Skip ahead several millennia. Nazi occultist Vandal Savage releases Ares and his minions in exchange for immortality to aid the Axis in a new World War.  The Amazons reappeared and were discovered by US Marine Pilot Steve Trevor.  He introduced them to the Allies and together, they defeated Ares and the Axis nations (and rather quickly, and the Allies didn’t have to finish development of a nuclear bomb).  The greatest of the Amazons was Princess Diana, known as Wonder Woman, and after the war she married Steve.  Today, they continue to fight evil and oppression wherever it appears.”

Once the movie was done, it was time to land. Mother went back to the pilot’s seat and guided her jet down through the clouds.  I watched in awe as we descended onto a Mediterranean island, and we landed in the middle of an ancient Greek city, which was now ruins covered in cracks and vegetation.

Mother guided us into the royal palace, with mother giving nostalgic comments on every building and artifact we could find.  She led her daughter up to her old bedroom, and found it still had her old clothes from every age.

After washing out decades’ worth of dust, Mother changed into her adult clothes while having me dress up in her old girl clothes.  Mother couldn’t help but stare at her daughter, possibly because she understood how her mother felt when she looked at her.

She led me to the back of the palace, where we found an outdoor mausoleum.  Mother walked much more slowly now, walking passed each of the caskets that had been carved in the likeness of the Amazon who’d been lying dead inside.  Atop each casket was the Amazon’s weapons and armor, many of which still bore heinous battle damage.

As Mother passed by each one, she whispered a prayer in Greek; I believe it was, “Athena smiles down upon you.”  She began to move even slower as she passed by certain caskets, and began saying the names of who was in them:

Orana.  Artemis.  Antiope.  Drusilla.  Mala.  Nubia.  Philippus.

“Were they your friends?” I asked.

“Yes, we were friends.  We were lovers.  We were sisters.”

We came to the end of the graveyard, and found the largest, most decorative casket.  Towering over with was the statue of a war goddess with an owl perched above her shoulder.

Diana got on her knees and began giving a soft chant in Greek, paying her respects to the deceased.

“This is your grandmother, Donna.  Queen Hippolyta.  The statue above her is the goddess Athena, your other grandmother.”

“Wait, you have two mommies?”

“Yes.  They became lovers after coming here.  The Queen was the only one without child, so they made one.  Over there is the pot of clay Hippolyta used to carve me out from, and Athena brought me to life.”

“Huh?  Was I carved from clay too?”

“No, honey.  I grew you inside of me, like a normal person.”

Mother sat down next to me and looked straight into my eyes.

“When the war was over, all of my sisters who had survived had gotten pregnant in-between battles.  They had also fallen in love, and joined their soulmates to be wives and mothers, slowly changing the world to have the equality in the West.”

“Are they still alive?”

“Mostly, no.  They all live on in their descendants.  Every good buy and bad guy who uses magic, they’re all part of the Amazon family tree.  The ones still alive, I meet them from time to time, and they all take greatest pride in motherhood.  Transforming their bodies into a vessel that creates life, then crafting that life in your image.  The one thing that a man cannot do, but a god can.  I see now why your father claims to ‘worship’ women – between crafting life and our immense beauty, a woman is truly divine!

"But it could never happen to me.  It wasn't fair.  After decades of taking lives, I yearned to create life, just one life, and fulfill my calling as a woman.  The one day, I met a young boy who is now called Superman who congratulated me on having a baby.  At first, I thought he was trying to be funny, but my lasso confirmed that he could see your heart beating inside me.  I was so happy I collapsed in tears!"

Mother must have noticed that I had was desperate to ask something.

“Donna, what is it?”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“You thought it’d be cool if you mom was the greatest hero ever, right?  Well, I’m no hero.  Heroes never have to plague their conscience from taking a life.  It’s a real easy way to be when you’re indestructible or have a gadget for everything.  No, I’m a warrior.  I understand that sometimes destroying what you hate is the only way to protect what you love.  It’s a rough, tragic life full of losing friends and gaining enemies.  You have to face the children and grandchildren of your lost sisters-in-arms.  You have to deal with shadowy evil from every turn, even when it’s done under the banner of freedom.

“That’s not the life I wanted for you.  I wanted you to be normal, or at least as normal as I could make it.  But that all ended when I saw our safe haven had been exposed.  Every act of sadistic cruelty I had seen went off in my head, and my mind couldn’t stop picturing them happening to you.  And I made them pay.”

Diana glanced at Donna’s hands, which by now had recovered through her magic healing.  She couldn’t stop picturing those nails replaced with blood.

“I’ve fought gods, enchantresses, wizards, monsters, Nazis, communists, terrorists, mad scientists … but those nameless men, they did the one thing they never could.  They broke me.

“I’m sorry, Donna.  I failed you.  When I first held you, I promised that nothing would hurt you.  But someone was stupid enough to do that, and I was stupid enough to let it happen.  You lost your friends because of me.  You were hurt because of me. I can’t let you be in any more danger.”

Mother opened up the bag she was carrying and pulled out her armor and weapons, and laid them all down on grandma’s altar.

Finally, she laid her tiara to rest.  “Wonder Woman is no more.”

Then she turned around and faced me, getting n her knees while putting her hands on my shoulders.

“Besides, there’s plenty of heroes, and plenty more will come.  They can use my stories and an inspiration, make me a legend, and then a myth.  Meanwhile, you and I can become a normal family, safe from all the evils in the world.  We can forget all about it just have peace and quiet.  Wouldn’t you like that?”

I scrunched my eyes in anger, raised my arms to make a cross, and broke mother’s arms off my shoulders.

“No, mom!”  I protested.  “You are a hero!  As long as you can fight, the world is going to need you!  You have inspired so many girls and boys to work hard and be stronger so that they can be brave and stand up to the bad guys just like you!”

Then I marched myself over to grandma’s altar, placed mom’s tiara upon my head, and turned around with my arms in a cross position once again.

“But if you won’t be Wonder Woman,” I bragged, “then I will be!”

And then my mom laughed.

“Oh Donna, I’m so proud of you!” she exclaimed while hugging me.  “That’s exactly what I wanted to hear!”

“It’s not your fault he died,” I replied back.  Mother stopped hugging and looked straight at me again.

“I know you think it was your fault that brave man fell in the fire.  It was the soldiers of Asin who did it.  You couldn’t save them because you weren’t there.  If I was like you, I could have stopped it!”

“Sweetie, you’re already like me!”

“No, I’m not, mom!  I’m not big and strong!  I’m weak and stupid and...”

“No!  All girls, and boys, have strength and smarts within them.  They just need to discover it.  But you already have something much more important – you have the heart of an Amazon, of a warrior.  You value the lives of the innocent and defenseless, and you’re determined to protect them even if it means sacrificing yourself.  That’s what separates warriors like your father and I from murderers like Savage and Asin.”

“Then show me how to be a warrior like you, mother!  I don’t want anyone to die like how my friends did!  I don’t anyone to feel helpless like I was!  I don’t want anyone to cry like you did!”

“A warrior like me, huh?  I’ve been fighting evil for decades, and evil still hasn’t gone away.  And the other Amazons couldn’t make all their children and grandchildren turn out good.  Being like me won’t be good enough.”

“Then I’ll be better than you!”

Mother smiled again.  “That is also exactly what I wanted to hear.  You’re ready!”

Leading me by the hand, mother took me around the graveyard and back into the palace.  We came to a room we had passed earlier, where there was a device that didn’t look it was from ancient times, but more like a futuristic operating table with violet strobe lights on the ceiling.

“This is the Purple Ray.  This is what I used to heal your father when he crashed here.  After the big war, I used it to make us immortal, so we could continue fighting evil.  Then I come back here to give you life.

“As I nursed you for the first time, I had this ray put a lock on all your Amazonian abilities, so you could have a normal life.  But I was wrong to do that.  I thought I could protect you from the evils of this world, but now I see that I should have been preparing you to deal with it.  For that, I’m sorry, daughter.”

“I forgive you, mom.”

“But now, I shall redeem myself and awaken all of my strength and powers that have been sleeping in your blood.”

“So, it will make me as big and strong as you?”

“Not exactly.  Like I said, there is a lock on the Amazonian blood within you.  I’ll open that lock, but you will have to nurture the seed inside.  You will be training beside me day after day, for year after year.  Your body and mind will be pushed to their breaking points, and bit by bit, your true power will grow into a mighty tree.”

“OK, then let’s do it!”

“Don’t take this so lightly, daughter.  Your grandmother Hippolyta was not easy on me, and I will be no different.  I expect the utmost best in everything, and if I suspect of you deliberately slacking even the tiniest bit, I will make certain that I appear in your nightmares.  I will make you a model Amazon, Donna, but the only way is the hard way.”

I smugly smiled at mother.  “Then do your worst, mother.  I promise I will be the greatest Amazon ever.”

Mother smiled back.  “Then lay down on that table.”  I did so.  “Your life as an Amazon begins … now!”

/////////////////////////////////////

Until I was 14, my life on Themyscera was nothing more than non-stop training.  My body, my skills with weapons, my martial arts, my strategic thinking – all of it was at the peak of perfection.  I don’t think there was a time when I didn’t feel aching all over.

But now a surprise was coming.

“Good news, Donna.  Two kids your age are going to be training with you – Superman’s perky little cousin, and Batman’s new lad Robin.  Hopefully, they’ll assist you in the final steps to becoming a true Amazon.”

I was so excited to finally meet other kids in so long, and even more so to finally be a real Amazon.  “So, what do we need to do, mom?”

“Have sex with them.”

Now I was confused.  “What?  You mean, make a baby?”

“No, just climax.”

I was more confused.  “Huh?”

“Yes, let’s talk about that.  What do you know about sex?”

“That, it’s how mommy and daddy make a baby?”

“Oh, there is much more than that.  First of all, it can involve a boy and a girl, two boys, two girls, or a combo of three.  Second, sex is all about the joining of the most sensitive parts of the body, soul, and mind all together at once.  During the process, the physical, spiritual, and mental parts of everyone who does it join together into one, becoming an intense array of passion that makes you lose yourself as you fly through the air!  As Amazons, before and after every battle, we offer to have sex with our fellow warriors, strengthening the bond of love between us all!”

I was still confused.  “So, when does the baby come?”

“Oh, you don’t need to worry about that.  Not as long as you always have a handful of these rubber buddies.”

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Diana of Themyscera had finally retired, and Donna had taken her place.  She stared out her new armor symbolizing this new role, now stained with black to remind her of a lost Kryptonian love.

  
“And yet, moments like that still come back to haunt me.  When I felt so helpless, so frightened.  I can’t but think that in spite of everything I’ve done, I’m really nothing more than a pathetic little girl who’s just trying to make mommy proud.”  
  
“You’re not alone in that,” replied Roy.  “Sometimes, I’ll catch myself thinking– how I couldn’t find my father, and how I couldn't save Brave Bow.  Sometimes I don’t think I deserve to live when so many others died and suffered.  
  
“But Oliver told me something very important - ‘You can’t move forward with your head facing backward’.”  
  
“My mother told me something similar.  ‘Our past is what inspires us, but it doesn't define us’.”  
  
“You and me, all the other heroes and ex-sidekicks, we all have tragedies in our past.  They are what drives us to make the world a better place.  Remembering them can be troubling, even traumatizing, but since it’s easy to lose track, sometimes we just need a reminder of what we’re fighting for.”  
  
Donna smiled and sighed comfortably.  “You were taught well.”  
  
“As were you.  Do you feel better now?”  
  
“Yeah, but I guess I could … use a quick reminder of what I’m fighting for.”  
  
Roy smiled back.  “Gladly!”  
  
Donna turned to face her lover and the two heroes shared a late-night kiss.

A kiss that was unfortunately interrupted – first by Lian, and then by Robert.


End file.
